Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen on Wednesday night killed a university lecturer and administrative secretary of Uzo-Uwani local government area of Enugu State, Dr. Nnamdi Ogueche. Ogueche’s death came less than 24 hours after a Catholic priest, Rev Fr. Clement Ugwu, who was earlier kidnapped and killed, was buried.

Ogueche, a senior lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, was shot dead while returning from a peace meeting between his kinsmen and Fulani herdsmen in Enugu. He met his death along Iwolo road in Ezeagu local government area.

The meeting, said to have been summoned by the governor’s Special Adviser on Security Matters, Brig. Gen. Fred Eze (rtd), was to find solutions to the raging disagreement between Adaba and Lokpa communities in Uzouwani and the herdsmen. Farm crops belonging to the communities were incessantly attacked by the herders.

The assailants were said to have pursued the council scribe and shot him alongside three other occupants of the vehicle he was driving. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of other occupants of the vehicle Ogueche was driving could not be established as at the time of this report.

When contacted, chairman of Uzo-Uwani local government area, Mr. Fidelis Ani, confirmed the killing, adding that the immediate cause has not been ascertained. He said a case had been lodged at Ezeagu police division for investigations, just as fear and heightened tension engulfed the council area yesterday.

The Commissioner of Police, Sulieman Balarabe, who briefed reporters yesterday at the police headquarters confirmed the latest killing, assuring that the command would do its best to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said there was an ambush against the deceased, confirming that three persons have been arrested in connection with the murder.

The police boss, however, declined to confirm the involvement of herdsmen until after investigations.

•Excerpted from The Guardian report